Socialists clash with EPP as von der Leyen leaves door open to cooperation with hard right

The Party of European Socialists lead candidate Nicolas Schmit is fuming over Commission President and centre-right EPP party lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen, who left the door open to collaboration with the far right in the European Parliament after the elections.

The two clashed at the Maastricht Debate, co-organised by Politico Europe and Studio Europe Maastricht, one of two debates between parties' Spitzenkandidaten, with the next one scheduled for 23 May in the European Parliament, organised by the European Broadcasting Union.

Von der Leyen left the door open to collaborating with hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR), the political family of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"It depends very much on how the competition of the Parliament is and who is in what group," von der Leyen said, adding, "It's the Parliament who makes majorities," when directly asked by the Greens' Bas Eickhout.

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